William jordan



WILLIAM JORDAN, OF GALENA, ILLINOIS.

Letters Patent No. 76,465, elated April 7, 1868,

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croALL WHoM 1T MAY ooNcEnN:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM JORDAN, of Galena, in the county of Jo Daviess, and State of Illinois, have invented a new and improved Sttz-Skate; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, 'which will enablethose skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of'this specification.

My invention relates to improvementsin stilt-skates, and consists in the construction of them, as will be hereinafter described, whereby the elevated shoe is jointed to the vertical connection of the runner and the support for the leg, in al manner to make a very convenient, light,I and graceful stilt-skate. On reference to the drawingsy Figure 1 represents a side view of my 'improved skate, attached to the leg ot a skater.

Figure 2 is a front viewroiI the same.

Similar letters of reference' indicate corresponding parts. i

a represents the runner of a skate, to which thevertical supports 6 are pivoted, near the rear end of the same, and which are distended as they rise up to the 'foot-piece c, which is supportedbetween them by a rod running through them and throughthe foot-piece near the heel, d is a connecting-rod, joining the toe of' the runner with the toe of the footpiece, in a manner to always preserve a parallel relation of the foot-piece with the runner.

Thevertical supports b have prolongations, b', nearly to the height of the knee, embracing the leg on both sides. fis a strap, whereby they are secured to the' leg at the top. e c are'straps for buckling the foot-piece to the foot, asin skates of ordinary construction. i l

All the joints of the supports, with the shoe and runner, admit of oscillation similar to the action of the ankle-joints of thehuman body, and for the same purpose. The lateral or side st rain, which would be very great on the ankle-joints in the use of a stilt-skate without the prolongation of the vertical supports above the footpiece,'is, in my improved skate, avoided by that arrangement.

By the use of stilts-skates a very much greater speed may be attained by the. skater; besides, the amusement is more pleasing, graceful, and exciting.l v

Having thus fully described my invention, what l claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A skate, having the runner and foot-piece united by a jointed connection, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. The combination of the runner a,'su'p`ports b and ,'and foot-piece c, substantially. as and for the purpose described. Y 3. The combination of the runner a, supports b and d, footpiece c, and vertical extensions bb of supports b, and strapf, as described. 4 A

The above specification of my invention signed by me, this v day of 1868.

WILLIAM JORDAN.

Witnessesz l JOSEPH` H. BARRY, WILLIAM Pannen. 

